Method of drying hosiery



'Feb. 23' 1926.

E. c. POWERS METHOD OF DRYING HOSIERY Fil ed April 12, 1922 2Sheets-Sheet 1 E. C. POWERS METHOD OF DARYIING HOSI Eeb. 23 1926.

BRY-

Filed A ril 12.

1922 2 Sheets-Sheet 2 l ire)? Z07:

. da/u, a 74 Patented Feb. 23, 1926.

UNITED STATES 1,574,056 PATENT OFFICE.

EAIBLE C. POWERS, OE STRATEORD, NEW JERSEY, ASSIGNOR TO B. F. STURTEVANTCOMPANY, OF BOSTON, MASSACHUSETTS, A CORPORATION OF IVI'ASSACHUSETTS.

METHOD OF DRYING HOSIERY.

To all whom it M ay 007706771.

Be it known that I, EAnLr; C. Pownns, a citizen of the United States,residing at Stratford, in the county of Camden and State of New Jersey,have invented certain new and useful Improvements in Methods of DryingHosiery; and I do hereby declare the following to be a lull, clear, andexact description of the invention, such as will enable others skilledin the art to which it ap pertains to makeand use the same.' 7

This invention relates to a method of drying hosiery and moreparticularly to a method of dryingsilk hosiery.

During the.manufa'cture of'hosiery, the excess orsurplusmoisture isremoved from the wet stockings as they come from the dyeing or bleachingoperations by a centrifugal extractorso that the stockings'as theyarrive at'the dryrooni are in a condition which may be regarded as damp.At the present time it is thepracticc to remove the remaining moisture-'1n the stockings by subjecting them to the action of highly heated airwithin drying apparatus of-either of two general types.

The type of drying apparatus most commonly employed at the present timeromprises the so-called cabinet drier which con sists of 'a relativelylarge chamber within which air heated well above the boiling point ofWater is circulated at a slow rate, being passed vertically througha'series of superposed racks or trays of stockings. The damp stockingswhich have been first boarded, i. e.

drawn oversuitable forms, usually of thin wood, are supported on theiredges side-byside on trays within the drying chamber. With the ordinarygrades ofstockings, the drying of each tray of stockings which usuallyconsists of one dozen stockings, is .completed in a period ofapproximately six to eight minutes, and the temperature employed withinthe drying apparatus is purposely maintained sufliciently high so thatthe drying operation may be completed within this period of time. I .Theother type of drying apparatus comprises the so-called automatic drierin which the stockings aredrawn by the operator over a series ofcontinuously moving forms. The forms-and stockings are caused totraverse a high temperature drying chamber, thelength of time that thestocking is within the chamher and the temperature of the air itself be-In both types of finish are imparted to the dried stockings.

.may be im arted to the dried stockings.

Application filed April 12, 1922. Serial No. 552,013.

' ing controlled to dry the stocking.by the time it has completed itsjourney through the apparatus driers, the drying efiect is securedalmost entirely by the high temperature employed, the air being heatedwell above the boiling point of water, usually to approximately 220 to300 degrees F., and the circulation of the air beingat relatively lowvelocity. l

The individual fibres of-the stockings, and particularly of silkstockings, contain volatile constituents and natural oils which impartto the fibres and to the stockings themselves desirable qualities offlexibility, soft- 7 ness and durability. With the methods at thepresenttime employed for removingthe moisture from the stockings, thesevolatile constituents, oils and even the fibres themselves, are changedfrom their natural state due to the baking efi'ect resulting from theextremely high temperatures employed in drying the stockings incommercial quantity and at the rate necessary for commercial production.As a; result, the wearing qualities of-the finished stockings areimpaired and the loss of the oils and'other volatile constituentsimparts harshness and brittleness to the fibres. In addition, thevarious organic dyes which are employed for im parting desired shadesand colors to the stockings are themselves altered or changed inconstitution during the high temperature drying operation, so thatinferior lustre and The object of the present invention is to provide amethod of drying hosiery in a 'novel and superior manner by whichsuperior wearing qualities, finish and lustre With this object in view.one feature of the present process contemplates the utilization of arapidly moving current of low temperature air to accomplish the dryingoperationin contradistinction to the high temperature, slow moving aircurrents heretofore employed. In this manner the disastrous effects ofthe high temperatures here- 'tofore employed are successfully avoidedwithout in any way interfering with the 0 economical drying of thestockings on a commercial scale.

Further features of the process reside in the'methods of handling thestockings dur- -ing the drying operation and of the manwardly over thedampers 62 into the supply chambers 65 for the fansand again caused totraverse the foregoing cycle.

\Vhen the doors 60 are opened. the dampers (32 are closed. thus cuttingoff the circulation of air by the fansv and permitting moist air fromthe drying compartments to be drawn up the exhaust duct and fresh air tobe drawn into the compartments through the open door. -Partitions 63 areprovided in the forward-part of the heating chamber 34 to prevent thefresh air incoming through one door from mixing directly with the cir;culating air in the next compartment.

In order to direct the air from the fans onto the heel and toe portionsof the stockings so that the maximum drying ctfect may be obtained atthese points which are in practice the most difficult to dry, each-fanand drying compartment is provided with a deflector arranged. tocooperate with the periphery of the fan and to converge the aircurrentfronr the fan and to direct it di rectly upon the toe and heelportions of the stockings. The deflectors 70' are preferably ormed ofsheet metal'in the shape of a frustruni of a pyramid the smaller endsthereof being secured to the rear end of the walls of the dryingcompartment. The rear or enlarged ends of the deflectors are bent over aplate '13 extended across the entire width of the drier. being rivetedor otherwise secured to the side walls of the chamber 10 and havingcircular openings therein with which the periphery of the fans cooperate. The trays upon which the-stockings ar supported each compriserectangular framework 74 arranged to slide in longitudinal supportingbars 7 5 and having a series of guides 76 upstanding therefrom at theirforward ends and a combined heel and toe rest 7 8 at the rearward end.The combined heel and toe rest may be adjustedwith respect to theframe,being retained in adjusted position by a series of notches 80 in theframe. one or another of which is engaged by a lug depending from therest.

Each trayisadapted to support a dozen boarded stockings within eachcompartment. In assembling the boarded stockings in the trays withineach compartment, a door- 60 of one compartment is opened intoahorizontal position and the tray drawn part way out, being supported inits extended position upon the horizontal door 60 which, in turn, issupported in open position by connections with the dampers 62, thelatteralso serving to cause operation of the damper in synchronism withthe door. For this purpose each damper 62 is connected through a link 84to one arm 85 of a bell crank 86 pivoted at 88 to one of thelongitudinal supporting bars 7 5 for the trays- The'second arm of thebell crank 86 is connected by a longer link 89 to the door 60 of thedrying compartment. With this arrangement, when the door is open, thedamper 62 is swung into a closed position illustrated in full lines.Fig. 1. and when the door is closed. again permitted to drop into itsopen position illustrated in dotted lines. Fig. l. \Vith thisarrangement. whenever the door is opened, the damper immediatclv cutsoff the supply of air to the suction side of the fan from the commonheating chamber 3%. so that cireulationof the air by the fan in thatparticular compartment is cut off. At the same time the suction in theexhaust duct operates to draw'into the heating chamber through the opendoor a fresh supply of air from the dry room. so that not only is an outblast of moist air from the drying compartment through the open dooravoided. but at the same time suliicient fresh air is automaticallyintroduced into the (lllClIO maintain the air within the same in acondition mostfarorable to drying a fresh supply of stockings. Theoperation of theillustrated drier according" to my improved method is asfollowszThe operator boards the stockings one dozen at a time, using thetop of the drier as a boarding table. As each dozen is boarded theoperator opens the door to one of the drying compartments. therehvclosing the damper to cut off the supply of air to the fan of thatparticular compartment and permitting the withdrawal of air from thedrier through the exhaust tlue and the admission of a fresh supply ofair through the open door. He draws out the tray. replaces the driedstockings by the dozen just boarded and then closes the door,re-establishing the circulation through the compartment... The operatorthen removes the dried stockings from the boards and places undriedstockings thereon, and substitutes them forthe dried stockings ofanother compartment. and continues in thismanner using the threecompartments in rotation. Each dozen stockings are then dried for theperiod of time required by the operator for boarding, placing: removingand stripping two dozen stockings, which is ordinarilv from ten tofifteen minutes and sutlicient for the proper drying of. the stockings.Owing to the fact that the air is of relatively low temperature, allliability of damage to the stockings is avoided and a very superiorproduct is obtained. The relatively high velocity of the circulating airbreaks up the surface film of moisture in the hosie v and enables theair to penetrate the inteirtic'ei of the knitted material so that themoisture is removed from both the surface and interior of the fabric.This results in a rapid drying of the hosiery. At the present time,after the stockings are dried they are usually subjected to paperpressing to remove wrinkles and improve the fini h. By.

the presentfmethod of drying in which the stockings aresnbjected to theaction of the p ting off the flow of eachstream successive- -the topfthe stocking, the wrinkles are airfio-wingin a direction from the footto eliminated-andsuch a'finish imparted to the *stoeking thatprestingcan be dispensed with.

v No" clainis ar niadein thisapplication lustrated in theflaccompa-nying drawings as such apparatus formsthe subjwt-matterfof, andisclaimed injm-y mending application filed. April -12, Serial-No. 552,013,for hosiery drier. 1 "*"Havingfthusdescribed. the "nature of my,

tingbtftheflflow-of eachstream successively Y i mole a ii-rams m pimproved method and an apparatus for car ryin'g it out, What is claimedis: b 1. The method of drying hosieryv and the like which consists indirecting a, stream of air at high velocit-y on to the foot. portion' ofstockingsand then longitudinally of-the,

stockings tothetop' thereof. 2. The method otdrying hosiery 'and'jth'elike vh'ichconsistsin. providing a ci'rcul'ating-flow of "drying air,'dividing'. such' flow for aportionof its circu-la-tion-intoa plu--.rality'; of separated streams-,sub-jecting lotsot'hosiery,-each' to oneof the streams, and replacing" eagch 10i successively. Ew'hile the.other lots are being subjected to the other; streams and withoutinterference therewith. 3. The method of dryinghosiery and the likewhich consists in providing-a 'circulat ing flow ofdrying, air, dividingsuch flow for a portion of its circulation into-a plurality-of separatedstreams. subjecting lots of hosiery,-each to' 'one of the streams,cutand replacing each lot suc ces ivelv Wliile the other lots are lbeingsubjected to the other streams and Without interference therewith.

4. Tlie methodiof dryinghosiery and the like which consists inprovidinga circulat mg flow of dryingrair, dividing suchflow vrality ofseparated streams, subjecting lots of'hosie'ry-each to one of theStreams, cutly and replacing each lot successively while theother lotsare being subjected to the lother streams, and introducing fresh airinto the separated streams.

likeiwhifch consists in pro'i iding a circulatof hosiery one to each ofthe'streams, cutting oif the .fior-v of each stream successively andreplacing each lot successively ,While the other lots arebeing-subjected to the other streams; and simultaneously withdrawing aportion bf-the air and introducing fresh air into eachseparatedstreamwhile the lot of-hosiery-forisuch separated stream is be- --6. Themethod of drying hosiery and the 5. Themethod of drying hosiery and thelike-which consists in heatingia streamof air, dividing the stream intoaplurality of separate streams, applying each stream to a single lotofho: iery,.and combining the streamsagain preparatory to re-heating. 7The method of drying hosiery and the like which consists -in subjectingthe boarded hosiery to a circulation of airat low temperature and highvelocity, the air being directed onto the foot of the stocking and thenlongitudinally of the stocking to the top thereof and thereafter beingreheated and again directed ontoithe stocking.

8. The method of drying hosiery and the like which consists in'heating astream of air, directing, the heated air against hosiery in a closedchamber, introducing fresh air int-othe chamber and heating the freshair 5 before it-is directed against the hosiery.

1 EaRLn-o. POWERS.-

